The Exception Known as Kiara Snape
by QuidditchFlyer19
Summary: The third child of Severus Snape and Lily Potter (née Snape) is anything but normal. Heart still aching after the death of her father, Kiara, a prankster eager for adventure, must survive her third year at Hogwarts, through crushes, Transfiguration, Quidditch, and a hidden enemy she never knew she had. Disclaimer: Jo owns the world and all canon characters. (i.e. Weasleys)


Note: *** is an indication of time passing  
~~~~~ is an indication of switching of POVs  
**Prologue**

_"There was Erika, her eyes red and only thirteen, James, just eleven, Kiara, eight years old for just a day, and Tyler, the five-year-old who still did not understand what was going on."  
–The Short Story of Lily and Severus Snape_

Erika Snape smiled as her hands flew across the violin and she drew the bow. She was accompanied by her brother, James Tobias. He, whatever he told people, was amazing on the piano. All the Snapes were involved in some kind of music. JT had been playing to piano since he was ten and Erika on the violin since she was nine. Her sister Kiara had been singing since she was six, and their little brother Tyler had been playing the clarinet for two years. However, Kiara had been helping him and he was going to be singing in this year's performance.  
Every year on the anniversary of their father's death, the Snape children played a song that they had chosen and changed to fit their instruments and the sadness of the day. Tyler had never really gotten to know his father, because he was five when Voldemort had taken him from them. Out of all the children, Kiara was the one who was especially close to him, but he had always been careful to spend as much time as he could with each child. Erika knew very little about it. Her mother had only mentioned once that her former husband had had abusive, neglectful parents. JT had been taught by his father to play the piano, before, laughing, Severus admitted that JT had surpassed his skill and they would need a better teacher.  
Erika…Erika could remember his cool hands resting on her as he guided her hand in a complex swishing movement for a Transfiguration spell. She remembered the comforting circles on her back as she cried because a boy at school had teased her about being fat and ugly every day for a year. She remembered the flash of anger in his eyes when she told him that her friend had betrayed her by going out with the boy she had a crush on. She remembered the quiet sigh of disappointment when he got a call from the Order in the middle of dinner. She remembered the constant, three –times-a-week letters full of advice, sympathy, and love. She remembered his joyful hug, spinning her around, when he picked her up at King's Cross Station. Yes, Erika remembered her father. The flash of memories and feelings as if he-was-just-around-the-corner haunted her. She and her mother had been the two crying the hardest at the funeral, and they would cry the hardest at the anniversary. People said that you would eventually have closure, but you really wouldn't.  
She sighed and tried to concentrate on playing the song. It was JT's turn to pick, and he had chosen 'Love Will Find a Way' from The Lion King II. Apparently, he had been told by their mother that that was how she had felt about Severus when their love was forbidden because of their opposite Houses. He had said that he was going to play it for her, to remember the love and forget the grief. Erika had agreed because she hoped that Severus would be with them that winter just as he had been for the past four years since his death.  
Suddenly the door creaked, and she tilted her head towards it without stopping the music. The soft footsteps and gentle sigh told her that Kiara had entered, and the shuffle behind her meant Tyler was with her. Then again, Tyler was always with Kiara. They jokingly called him 'Kiara's little shadow', like Peter Pan's. Since their father's death, the two younger kids left behind had bonded remarkably. Kiara had taken it upon herself to teach Tyler everything she knew, and Erika thought it comforted her to be around a mini-Severus. Tyler could easily be identified as the child of their father, just as Erika could of their mother.  
"And if only they could feel it too/the happiness I feel with you," Erika knew that the words being sung were an allegory; a defiant protest to all the bullies who had mocked the children for losing their father and to the people passing on rumors of him being a Death Eater or having an affair to another woman. They didn't understand the love that all the kids had felt whenever they were around their father. Kiara swung her bobbed red hair around, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the ending, black eyes without the fire that usually blazed in them.  
"Somehow we'll come through/now that I've found you/Love will find a way," Erika drew her bow again to create a long, sad note. It vibrated through the room as they all slowed down and JT just played the last, simple keys with his right hand. "I know love will find a way." A soft chord ended the song, and there was not a dry face in the room as she placed the violin on an empty chair and opened her arms. Slowly, the four children hugged, comforting and strengthening each other to face the outside world.  
Kiara was the first to break away, pulling herself free and walking out of the room with stiff shoulders. Tyler drew himself out from their arms and followed her, casting a mournful look over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him. JT put his arm around Erika's shoulder and handed her a handkerchief. She laughed shakily and took it, wiping her face. Luckily she hadn't put make-up on before the practice, because she always cried when they were done. Together they put away their instruments, not speaking, but sharing the silence in a way that helped them nonetheless. When they were done, he smiled at her, and she smiled slightly back.  
"You can keep the handkerchief," he said, and she laughed, for real this time.  
"Get out of here miscreant," she ordered, pointing at the door. Her brother saluted her.  
"Yes Commander Erika!" Then he turned and marched out of the room, leaving her breathless with laughter. JT was very rarely so playful around her, because they were usually with their friends. Once upon a time, they had been just like Kiara and Tyler, but after an abhorrent first year at Hogwarts, he had acted 'cool' around everyone, including her. She had to admit, being cut off from her real brother still hurt, but these occasional moments made it worth it. After pulling her long red hair into a ponytail with a red ribbon (she always let it down when she played) and sighing once more, Erika left the room, flicking the light off as she closed the door with a soft click.


End file.
